All posts tagged childrens’ comics

Ariol is quickly becoming my favourite children’s comic. Guibert constantly delivers scripts that really feel like they depicts the reality of children, as opposed to all those stories about children, written by adults from a safe distance. In this volume, for instance, I loved the little story of how the hesitant Ariol tries hard to impress the resolute and confident girl he loves, or the one about the obsession of collecting cards that can transcend generational gaps.

The second book by the Argentinian comics artist artist Liniers in Swedish and just like the previous one, Regnballongen, a wonderful, compassionate, thoughtful little book that is suitable both for those who recently learned to read, and for reading aloud. Read more…

The second collection of the French children’s comics Benjamin Bear/L´ours Barnabé, which is just as strange and at the same time pedagogical as the previous volume. In my review of the first collection Benny Björn på rätt spår I compared this series with the absurd Cowboy Henk, and that impression remains. Fun, unexpectedly drastic and at the same time always with an eye on teaching young readers things about how our world works. So far from dreary educational comics as you can possibly get. Refreshing.

This is a low-key story of two young siblings who spend a Saturday together, trying to busy themselves, despite the rain falling outside. Nothing much happens and the pace is quiet and laid-back, which is really nice for a change from many action laden comics for adults.

Benjamin Bear is a strange little comic, a bit like a childrens’ version of the absurd Cowboy Henk , if anyone can imagine that… The protagonist is an anthropomorphic bear living in an undefined world seemingly without any humans. The comics spans one page each and always end with a joke, even though the path there often contains some kind of lesson about how the physical world works. At the same time, it is absurd on an almost metaphysical level, as everything seems to be possible in Benjamin Bear’s strange world. The images are simple and clear, and the comics are clearly geared towards the youngest readers. As such, I think Benjamin Bear is excellent in that it combines didactic intentions with a great sense of humor and some pure nonsense.